From Kenneth Udeh, Abuja.
Senator Orji Uzor Kalu has launched a blistering response to claims by Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is destined to lose the 2027 presidential election, insisting that the opposition lacks both the structure and momentum to unseat the President.
Reacting to Abaribe’s comments on Channels Television’s Politics Today, where the Abia South lawmaker argued that Tinubu “never won” the 2023 election and would be rejected by Nigerians in 2027 due to hardship, the Abia North Senator on Tuesday dismissed the position as politically marooned from reality.
“I just want to briefly address what my brother Abaribe said on Channels TV that President Tinubu has already failed the election on arrival. I don’t think so”.
“I have not seen the momentum opposition will be able to challenge him. The election is Tinubu versus Tinubu, and that is it. That is the truth. Whether you like it or not, I’m a politician of 30-something years and I know how we play it, Kalu said.
Kalu, a former Abia State governor and 9th Senate Chief Whip of the Senate, reminded Abaribe that both men served together in the 9th Senate and witnessed the policy failures of past administrations, arguing that Tinubu’s approach marks a historic departure.
“We were both in the 9th Senate, we saw massively how things went. The difference between now and then is that President Tinubu is trying to build an economy that will not be based on free handouts, and we have never had it before.
“This is the first time a President will build an economy by every parameter”, he stated.
While acknowledging the current economic pain faced by Nigerians, Kalu maintained that the hardship is a consequence of rebuilding a system that never truly existed.
“I know things are difficult. We had no economy before. President Tinubu is trying to rebuild. For the first time, a president is coming to build an economy that will be sustainable by every parameter”
“Before, we were building an economy where handouts were the order of the day. This is the first President to end the era of cheap money,”he said.
On corruption, Kalu aligned with recent explosive allegations by Chairman of the Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote, describing corruption as deeply entrenched in both the public and private sectors and calling for firm legal action.
Referencing Dangote’s claims, Kalu said;
“What the President of Dangote Group said about corruption it’s endemic in us unless we bring a very hard law to deal with corruption.”
“A lot of money has been stolen here both by private sector people and public sector people. Nigeria is an avenue of stealing.”
He urged the Federal Government and anti-graft agencies to thoroughly investigate the allegations raised by Dangote against the Managing Director of the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), Ahmed Farouk, insisting that no individual should be above scrutiny.
Dangote, in a petition dated December 16 and submitted through his lawyer, Ogwu Onoja (SAN), had accused the NMDPRA boss of corruption and financial impropriety, demanding his arrest, investigation and prosecution.
The petition alleged that Farouk spent over $7 million, without evidence of lawful income, on the education of his four children in Switzerland over a six-year period. The petition was received by the ICPC Chairman, Musa Aliyu (SAN).
Kalu also linked Nigeria’s worsening insecurity to the collapse of the microeconomy and a broader crisis of personal integrity.
“Security is breeding in our microeconomy. Because of insecurity, people cannot go to farm and produce the raw materials that sustain us as people,” he said.
“Nigeria and Nigerians, we are at war with ourselves… It’s not only the job of the President. It’s a war that we created by ourselves.”
On the judiciary, Kalu struck a conciliatory tone despite recalling his own imprisonment, insisting on respect for judicial authority.
“They put me in prison for doing nothing and I can never say that I have committed any offense,” he said.
“But I never discussed the judge that imprisoned me. I believe that the judiciary is supreme. Nigerian judiciary remains one of the best in the world, no matter how bad they may seem”.
Kalu further advised President Tinubu to clamp down on the growing use of the US dollar within Nigeria’s domestic economy.
“I advise President Tinubu to pay less attention to people buying things with dollars. We should stop using dollars in our economy,” he said.
“If you have dollars, change it to Naira. Go and check what South Africans are doing, check what the Brazilians are doing.”
